


(Never) see you again

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Bilbo is So Done, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Forehead Touching, Gen, Missing Scene, Near Death Experiences, Overprotective Dwarves, Protective Thorin, Separation Anxiety, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Uncle Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 10:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19392157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: It wasn’t as if Fili had ever gone far or seen much of the world outside of his little bubble and his little town, but in his entire life, he had never been more afraid than he was when they were climbing the mountainside and the cliff-face split apart with Kili on one side and Fili on the other.





	(Never) see you again

It wasn’t as if Fili had ever gone far or seen much of the world outside of his little bubble and his little town, but in his entire life, he had never been more afraid than he was when they were climbing the mountainside and the cliff-face split apart with Kili on one side and Fili on the other.

How the hell were they supposed to know that the mountains were the bodies of Stone Giants? And how could they ever have expected them to start a fight at the exact moment that the company had begun walking across them?

The moment the rock had begun to shake and split, Fili had reached for his brother, but Kili was already too far away to take his hand and Fili would not have been surprised if his look of fear and horror was identical to the one on his own face, but suddenly his heart was in his toes and he realized _this is the last time I’m ever going to see him._

While the cliff (which was really part of a Giant, now that Fili thought about it, and a Stone Giant at that) swayed and smashed against walls and rocks fell down from above to land on them, all Fili could do was hold on and pray that his brother was alright, that he was faring much better than the Dwarves on Fili’s side, that he was _safe._

He heard Thorin call out Kili’s name, which was both a blessing and a curse, because, on one hand, it meant that his uncle's eyesight was acting up again and that he couldn’t discern which brother was on which ledge, on the other hand, it meant that Kili was possibly in as much danger as Fili himself.

But no- Kili was fine and once the danger had passed and the rocks had stopped flying through the air during the Giant’s battle, they retreated into the shelter and prepared to rest for the night.

People were asking him if he was alright, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, handing him warm mugs filled with bubbling mulled wine straight from Bofur’s carry bag and his uncle's hand on his shoulder, warm and comforting, and his deep stern voice asking, “Fili are you alright?”

Fili answered their questions and took what they gave him with half his mind on the conversation and the other half entirely focused on his brother, who was leaning against the furthest cave wall, drenched to the bone, breathing heavily with his eyes closed, and when they finally let him free from their worried hands, he made his way over there.

His brother’s eyes opened when Fili placed a hand on Kili’s cheek, and asked with more passion than he was expecting, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Kili’s eyes were red and tired and looked as if they had seen a thousand battles in a few short moments. He was shaking and saturated in rainwater and sweat and Fili longed to wrap his cloak around him or find him a blanket from his pack, but unfortunately, all of his things were just as wet as Kili’s. “Well, I’m alive, so that’s a good start,” Kili joked a little breathlessly. “Stone Giants, can you believe it? I never thought they existed! I suppose when we get back home we can tell all the others that the legends are true. What about you? You’re the one who went for a ride on a giant.”

“I’m fine,” Fili, unable to help himself any longer, pressed his forehead against Kili’s and his brother did not pull away but closed his eyes and leant into the touch. “I didn’t think I would see you again. I was worried.”

“So was I,” Kili admitted, his eyes closing as he fell into his brother’s warm embrace. “You disappeared into the storm and before I knew what was happening we were running. When I saw the rocks crash against the side of the mountain…” he trailed off, not wanting to say the words that were on everyone’s minds, but feeling the urge to anyway. “I thought you were lost to us.”

Fili took a deep breath because even though he had already been thinking the same thing for quite a while, it hurt to think about. “Well, the good thing is that I wasn’t, and you weren’t and no other member of our Company was hurt.”

He squeezed his brother a little tighter and to his surprise, Kili bit back a sharp intake of breath and flinched at the contact and Fili pulled away, somewhat reluctantly, and held him at arm’s length, looking him over with searching eyes. “You’re hurt.” He wasn’t a question and suddenly all the chatter from the Dwarves around them fell silent. “Where?”

Kili winced. “It’s only a scratch…”

“I don’t care if it’s only a scratch,” Fili said, working to tug and pull at Kili’s gear to see the skin underneath. Oin was beginning to ask questions and clamber towards them while Thorin called their name with all the concern only an uncle could have, but Fili just ignored them. “With you, it’s never just a scratch, is it? It’s always something deadly and painful and dangerous, and you never say a word, even though you should.”

Finally, he managed to rip away Kili’s cloak and pull away his chest piece to reveal two identical cuts and scrapes that marred his flesh, one that ran down the length of his arm and the other across his side and onto his chest, red-raw and bleeding and coated in a sheen of grit from the shifting mountains. “See?” Kili said when Fili lightly ran his fingers over them. Kili hissed a breath. “Just a scratch. I told you so.”

Fili turned his head to look back at all the Dwarves and the many worried eyes watching them in their little darkened corner. “He’s not about to die,” he reassured and suddenly all the breath left the Dwarves’ chest in a rush. “Oin, could I have some bandages?”

“Come now lad, let me see what I can do…” Oin trailed off as he went digging through his bag and walking closer to the Fili and Kili, but Fili held up his hand before Oin could get any closer.

“I’ll take care of him,” he flipped his hand over into an open palm. “Bandages.”

After sending a questioning look towards Thorin, who only nodded sternly in agreement, Oin handed Fili a roll of bandages and gauze before turning away and walking back towards the group, where Ori was currently nursing a headache. Balin clapped his hands and together and he, Thorin and Dwalin went back to searching the cave for any kind of traps or mechanisms that could ruin them in the night. Fili shoved his brother up against the wall, much to Kili’s annoyance, and began to clean off the wounds with a gentle hand. “I don’t even know how you got these,” Fili mumbled, voice muffled as his head was mostly covered with Kili’s wet cloak. “You weren’t on my ledge. In fact, I’m somewhat surprised that we only got out of that with Ori’s headache.”

Kili shrugged and the cloak landed heavily on Fili’s head at the rise and fall of his shoulders. “It was hard to hold on. And I… I kept trying to reach you. But you were always too far away. It was a useless effort.”

“Not entirely,” When Fili was satisfied with how much cleaner Kili’s wound was, he began to wind the bandage around it, and then moved on to his arm, which seemed much more bloody than the one on his side. “It could have worked.”

“But it didn’t,” Kili shivered as the cold air touched his wet skin. Fili winced in sympathy. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over and everyone is safe. Even the Hobbit.”

Fili laughed and pulled his brothers cloak closer around his torso, even though it wouldn’t do much for the warmth, but Gloin and Bofur had stoked the fire enough that the cavern was starting to warm up all the way to their little corner, and stew was beginning to bubble in its pot over the flames. “Well, I suppose our good fortune can only go up from here. Soon, we will be at the Lonely Mountain, basking in the history of our ancestors and repairing the line of Durin.” The words seemed fake, but they were worth it to see his brothers smile.

Later that night, while they were all getting ready to bed down for the night and the young brothers were huddled together in blankets in their little darkened corner, Bilbo pottered over with two bowls of steaming hot soup held in his hands and a squirreling look on his face, his eyes darting around as if worried that he was being watched. “Here you go, lads,” he thrust the bowls into their waiting hands. “Nice warm soup to calm you down after such a wild night.”

Kili took his bowl silently and Fili smiled at Bilbo as he gripped it, the heat through the bowl warming his fingers and ridding them of the biting cold. “Thanks, Bilbo. Glad to see that you made it through that alright.”

“I am too,” Bilbo admitted. Nori came over to hand him his own bowl of soup and he took it gratefully. “Although, Thorin seems a little disappointed that I wasn’t scattered over the rocks.”

Fili chanced a look over at his uncle, who was alternating from leaning against the back cave wall with his arms crossed and moving to the mouth of the cave to observe the rapidly raging storm outside. But it was Kili who spoke. “Oh, don’t mind him. He’s always grumpy, and a lot of us almost died tonight. I don’t think it’s directed at you.”

Bilbo hummed and hid his face behind his bowl. Fili invited him to sit in the space by their legs and he did. “I suppose he just doesn’t like me at all.”

“Maybe,” Kili agreed. Fili saw the cheeky glint in his brother’s eyes before Bilbo did, which meant he was prepared for Kili to launch forward and pinch Bilbo’s cheeks. The Hobbit swatted him away, of course, but Kili was already back leaning comfortably against his brother. “But what kind of heartless monster couldn’t love your adorable face?”

The face Bilbo made was so funny that Fili had to hold back his laughter. Kili was not so courteous. “That’s- that’s incredibly rude.” Bilbo spluttered and made to stand up but Fili put his foot across Bilbo’s lap.

“Come now Mister Baggins, he was only fooling around,” Fili soothed and reluctantly, Bilbo sat back down. “Tell me- how are you enjoying this journey so far? I must say, considering all that has happened, you’re doing quite well.”

“It’s certainly been… a journey.” Bilbo said and this time Fili didn’t bother to hold back his laugh. “I like all you Dwarves well enough, though you are sometimes a little tricky to get used to, so far I’m not worried about any of you skinning me in my sleep. Except maybe Dwalin. Or Thorin.”

"Very true," Fili agreed sagely, nodding slowly as he looked around at the dwarves sitting around the fire and enjoying their meals. "They would be the most likely. Although, I would look out for Ori. Or Dori. They look sweet and harmless, but who knows what they get up to when we're not looking?"

Bilbo laughed into his bowl of soup, sending the liquid sploshing up over the sides. Bofur would certainly scold the Hobbit if he were caught. "Oh my. Maybe I should keep an eye on Bombur too. Or Gandalf, when he finally shows up again."

Before he could reply, Fili felt a heavy weight on his shoulder and hair tickling the bare skin of his neck and when he glanced down, he saw Kili’s head resting on his shoulder, his eyes closed and his body shutting down in exhaustion after such a difficult day. His breathing was already even as if he had fallen asleep while Bilbo and Fili were speaking and his head became too heavy for his neck to hold up. Bilbo seemed to notice this, and he nodded to Fili with a small smile on his face, gathered his things and slinked away in that sneaky way that Hobbit’s were known to do.

Fili watched his brother sleep for a moment before he softly ran his fingers through Kili’s hair, gently untangling the mangled and damp strands. Kili stirred against him, burying his face deeper into his brother’s neck, but did not wake. Smiling, Fili hummed the song he had heard since he was a child, from his uncle to his mother to all the Dwarves in the company, about the Lonely Mountain and trees like flaming torches and deep caverns filled with glistening gold, and soon he felt his own eyes growing tired and struggling to stay open.

He noticed the gazes of the other Dwarves on them, but Fili paid them no mind. When he finally gave in to the lull of sleep with his little brother already resting against him, he no longer hummed the song of their people, but it was continued anyway by the rest of the Dwarves, wanting to see the youngest among them sleeping soundly for the first time in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the song Fili was humming to Kili to help him sleep was the "Misty Mountains" song that the Dwarves sang in Bilbo's house, and yes, the Dwarves did keep the song going to Fili could fall asleep as well, just like he did for his brother.


End file.
